Tabnak – While the officials of Iraq’s Kurdistan region are persistently insisting on holding an independence referendum, opposition to their plans is mounting throughout Iraq. In the latest development in this regard, the Iraqi parliament voted against the Kurdish referendum bid.
According to a Press TV report, the Iraqi parliament voted to oppose a referendum on the independence of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. The majority of lawmakers voted against the referendum — planned by the Kurdistan Regional Government — during a parliament session on Tuesday.
Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri said the vote made it incumbent on the government to "take all steps to protect the unity of Iraq and open a serious dialog” with Kurdish officials.
Speaking prior to the vote, MP Ammar Toma warned that the "unconstitutional” referendum would cause security and societal problems in Iraq and push the country into a state of chaos.
Kurdish leaders plan to hold the plebiscite not only in the three northern provinces where they have long enjoyed autonomy but also in other historically Kurdish-majority areas of Iraq that Kurdish forces captured during the battle against the ISIS terrorist group.
Tuesday's vote in the federal parliament was held after 80 lawmakers asked for the issue to be added to the day's agenda. The vote prompted Kurdish lawmakers to quit the parliament floor.
It should be noted that just a week ago, two major Iraqi Kurdish parties also called on authorities in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to delay the forthcoming independence referendum in a bid to save a part of the salaries of civil servants and improve the living conditions of ordinary people.
The Gorran Movement – also known as the Change List – and the Kurdistan Islamic Group, in a joint statement released on September 4, stated that they "demand the postponement of September 25 vote to a more appropriate time.”
On the other hand, although the planned referendum is non-binding, it has been criticized by Iraq's Western allies as a distraction from the war against ISIS. It has drawn stronger opposition from powerful neighbors Iran and Turkey. They believe that the referendum could create further instability in the region.
However, after today’s vote at the parliament, Hoshyar Zebari, an adviser to President of Kurdistan Regional Government Masoud Barzani, told Reuters that the vote against the Kurdish independence referendum was non-binding. "The Kurdish parliament will definitely have a response to the resolution when it convenes on Thursday,” he said.
Zebari told Reuters on August 12 that Kurdish authorities were determined to hold the referendum on September 25 irrespective of all objections.
